What Can We Expect in the Upcoming Legislative Session
On January 11 the Florida Legislature will convene their regular session for 2022. So far there have been over two thousand bills filed in the house and over six hundred in the senate. What bad things will finally come out of it is anyone’s guess, but there have been some key issues that have gotten a lot of attention and may make it into law. Here are a few:
Abortion – The abortion law passed in Texas earlier this year was copied almost verbatim in HB167. It is in committee, but there is no Senate companion bill yet. Republicans may be waiting to see how the Texas law makes it through the courts before going ahead with this one.
Follow this link to see the bill: https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=73228&sui=kf/tIb4LiWQ=-
Critical Race Theory – There has been a bill filed which bans the teaching of Critical Race Theory in public schools, colleges and universities, and training programs in government agencies. It is a solution looking for a problem since, as we know, CRT is not being widely taught in Florida. The bill which is benignly titled “Racial and Sexual Discrimination” bans the teaching of what it calls “divisive concepts” which may make people feel uncomfortable because of their race or sex among other things. The house bill (HB 57) is currently in committee. It has an identical senate companion bill (SB 242) which is sponsored by Joe Gruters who is also the state Republican Chair. The issue also has the support of the Governor which adds to it chance of passage.
Follow this link to see the house bill: https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=73075&sui=kf/tIb4LiWQ=-
Firearms – There are several bills filed which would allow for what is called “constitutional carry” which is the ability to legally carry a firearm openly without having a permit. There are two bills in the house (HB 103 and HB6007) both sponsored by Anthony Sabatini of Lake County. They are both in committee but have no companion senate bills as of yet. The bad news is that the governor has said he would sign such a bill.
Follow these links to see the bills:
https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=73146&sui=kf/tIb4LiWQ=-
https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=73061&sui=kf/tIb4LiWQ=-
Constitutional Amendments – Republicans in our legislature have been adding roadblocks to the passage of constitutional amendments for years. The latest proposal is to increase the threshold for passage from 60% to two-thirds or 66.67%. There are two bills, HJR 177 and an identical senate bill SJR 950. The house bill is in committee while the senate bill has just been referred.
Follow this link to see the house bill:
https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=73244&sui=kf/tIb4LiWQ=-
Vouchers – There doesn’t seem to be a big push by Republicans this session to expand school vouchers, but bills have been filed to require private schools that accept vouchers to meet certain requirements. HB 429 sponsored by our own Joy Goff-Marcil and co-sponsored by Anna Eskamani will require them to submit an annual report to the state, hire teachers who have at least a bachelor’s degree, and give state assessment tests to students. There is a companion bill in the senate: SB 532 by Linda Stewart. The house bill is in committee, but the senate bill has only been referred.
Follow this link to see the house bill:
https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=73783